#elphinstone

The Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions, Manufactures, Etc.

Volume 7, Number 40, April 1, 1819, Second Series

Evening Dress

‘Elphinstone’

Perhaps one of the most incredible places I have ever dived.   From Egypt, Elphinstone Reef is 12km offshore in the Red Sea. The reef itself is a subterranean mountain; 300 metres long but only 20-40 metres wide. The middle section of the reef can usually be seen from the surface as it lies barely concealed below the waves at a depth of just 1-2 metres.  However the reef descends down at both north and south to around 40 metres, and either side, the sheer cliffs drop off to depths of over 100m. No one has ever known quite how deep the surrounding waters are...

Because of its location in the open seas, and its ridiculously strong and ever changing currents, this is a dive site open to only highly experienced advanced divers, with at least 50 previous dives under their belt.

Of course, I wasn't interested in diving there simply because it is a famous reef.

No, I wanted to go there for the sharks.

See, Elphinstone is most famous for two critically endangered species - the oceanic whitetip, and the hammerhead. The latter of which, I was desparate to see. After dropping into the water from the zodiac, all you can see is blue. Sure, you know which way is up, but beneath you? Blue. Just blue. Endless blue. You could barely make out the reef. After decending 30 metres down, four absolutely stunning scalloped hammerheads came into view. They circled around for what felt like a lifetime. Keeping their distance, but checking us out all the same. Those memories will stay with me until the day I die. It still baffles me, you know. How can people hate these creatures so much? Our oceans depend on these animals. Want to know something more terrifying than an ocean with sharks?

thank you :) i don’t really have any specific headcanons, just a few random ones.

i feel like minerva had an obsession with knee-high socks, and this was what caught elphinstone’s attention first.

he found it quirky, but he also found it intriguing.

and he asked her about it specifically that first day, and she told him rather proudly that she had this exact pair in every color.

and he proposed to her by giving her a special pair of knee-high socks, because minerva mcgonagall did not like the typical traditions.

she was not your typical girl.

i feel like for the short time they were married, they would trade books a lot.

and they would sit up for hours and talk about them.

she would fall asleep every night with him stroking her hair and her cuddling up against his chest.

and after he died, that is what minerva missed most.